Historically the club’s inception got
underway in 1933 when a cricket team was formed. The outbreak of second World
War restricted activities but the formation of its first volleyball team under
the captaincy of FHR revived activities of the club.

In 1952 the community’s sports
enthusiasts held meeting under the shade of a mango tree at Chungani ground.The meeting was presided by Abdulrasul Virjee and it
officially launched the Daressalaam Ithnashris’ first ever club, Ithnashri
Sports Club.

In 1956 the other clubs belonging to the
community like Phelomaths Club(tabletennis), Twilight Club(badminton) and Radio
Club(snooker) which all had been formed to cater for the sporting needs of the
community joined hands with Ithnashri Sports Club to form the Ithnashri Union.
It took under its wings the literary, nursery school, volunteering, employment
as well as the sports portfolio with Bashir Rahim as its first Chairman.

There was keen interest in badminton and
tabletennis during the early fifties. In 1956 a tabletennis tournament was held
and won by Amir Datoo. Mohamed Pirbhai took the honours in 1957 and 1958. He
also won the Tanganyika Open Student Championship and became its first Champion
in 1958. The badminton field brought laurels and it produced three National
Champions in Raza Virjee, Ahmed Ratansi and Mohamed Nurmohamed. Yusuf Somji made
his mark on tennis courts.

For a decade, the period between late
sixties and early seventies, the club had mixed fortunes in cricket and
volleyball, its two main sporting activities. The club reigned supreme in
volleyball, Ithnashris trademark since 1943, and they dominated the Daressalaam
scene winning innumerable trophies. However championship in cricket eluded
Ithnashris.

In 1972, falling in line with the
National Sports Council’s directive, Ithnashri Sports Club became Union Sports
Club with its sporting activities centred at the Boarding House. It had two
cricket pitches and a volleyball court. In 1983 a squash court was built.
Presently the club consists of some 300 playing and non playing members.

The club over the years has produced many
fine administrators who have not only managed the affairs of the club but also
gained prominence in the administration of Regional and National cricket
bodies-RR Jaffer, Mohamed Pirbhai, Raza Kara, Yusuf Dhalla and Ibrahim Jivraj
are some members of the club who have held high offices in these associations.
The club has had also its fair share of representation in the National Cricket
Team.

The club is a regular participant in the
Annual Tarmohamed Abdul Gani Memorial Tournament. Having successfully hosted the
1982 competition in Daressalaam it will again host in December this year the 9thTAGMT tournament.

Though Union Sports Club’s performance
outside the country does not merit much acclaim its synonimity with cricket in
the local context is similar to our leading soccer clubs of Yanga or Simba
symbolizing football. Union’s biggest plus point is the tremendous spirit that
it exudes. It is the team spirit that has been Union’s binding force since its
inception.

The first cricket team after the war
revolved around certain established players who till then had been playing for
the other teams. In its very first season in 1951 under the leadership of
Abdulrasul Virji it finished runners up to AK Sports Club.

Cricket continued to flourish under the
captaincy of FHR until his departure in 1953 for Congo. By then the team had
been moulded into a fighting unit, and then FHR’s younger brother Muslim Kara
carried along the good work for the first half of 1954 season until he also left
the country. Finally Pyarali Merali carried the baton to the finishing line,
leading it to its first league championship in 1954. The team then had mixed
fortune and it was demoted to the second division in 1961, only to bounce back
into the senior league in the following year.

The Zanzibar Revolution of 1964 saw the
exodus of the community to the mainland where Zanzibar’s high caliber
cricketers joined hands with Ithnashri Union and consolidated it. In 1972
participating under the new name Union Sports Club it finished runners-up. 1973
marked the glorious reign of Union when after 19 years it won the championship
under the captaincy of Amir Yusuf. The championship was lost in 1974, regained
in 1975 but lost again in 1976. The period since 1977 has witnessed Union’s
most outstanding period in its history. Its supremacy has been undreamt of. It
has been not only winning the league every year but also dominating the knockout
and other tournaments.